Sewer plant may be upgraded soon

It’s been a long time coming, but Waterbury’s sewage-treatment plant — one of the most out-of-date in Vermont — could be improved significantly in the coming year.

The plant, just off Route 2 on the outskirts of the village, is one of the last remaining measureable sources of phosphorus pollution in Lake Champlain, reaching the lake via the Winooski River.

Phosphorus is an organic compound found in many things, including humans and soil. Too much phosphorus causes algae blooms and excessive plant growth in the lake, harming fish and other organisms.

State officials have acknowledged for years that Waterbury’s sewer plant needs an upgrade, but things are just now coming together.

“I can’t really speak to the rationale or the motivation” for the delay, said Chris Killian of the Conservation Law Foundation, an organization pushing for the project. “It’s their responsibility to take care of this problem and to regulate any pollution source. We don’t know why they’re dragging feet.”

Since 2002, the state has been pushing municipalities to upgrade sewer plants, but Waterbury is behind.

According to state and municipal officials, the delay is the result of a drawn out push-and-pull between the state and the village over what exactly will be built and how it will be paid for.

Waterbury now has an aerated lagoon system for treating sewage, one of the last of that type in Vermont, said Tom Joslin, an environmental engineer for the state Department of Environmental Conservation. That system does not treat the water for phosphorus before dumping it into the Winooski River.

State officials wanted the village to install a new system with a relatively low upfront cost — the state would pick up some of the tab — but with relatively high maintenance costs over the long run.

Village officials pushed back, and now the state has bought into a more expensive option, which would cost about $5.6 million but be cheaper for the village in the long run.

Phosphorus and other pollutants would be treated at the upgraded plant.

“It’s important that we’ve gotten to this point,” state Rep. Sue Minter, D-Waterbury said. “I see this as an urgent need.”

What hasn’t been settled yet is who will pay for the project, and how.

“We’re still only halfway there,” Minter said.

The state could fund the phosphorus treatment system, but Joslin said the state’s tight budget means money is scarce.

Minter has found some federal money, including a recent $825,000 grant with the help of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Joslin is looking for a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Beyond the mix of state and federal funds, village sewer users, through the fees they pay for sewer service, will have to pick up the remainder, said Bill Shepeluk, the municipal manager.

“More than likely it would be done through a bond,” he said.

How much users would pay for the project is still unclear. Cost estimates for the project have ballooned over the years, mainly because of rising construction costs, Joslin said.

Toxic legacy

Older plants such as Waterbury’s pump out around 5 or 6 milligrams of phosphorus per liter of wastewater, Joslin said, though the state doesn’t directly monitor the levels.

According to Joslin, state law limits the level to 0.08 milligrams per liter, but Waterbury was given an exception for many years because of the amount of sewage it handles.

The system, built in 1980, was upgraded after the Ben & Jerry’s factory was built in 1985, because it overloaded the system, he said.

The plant can handle up to 510,000 gallons of wastewater per day, but averages only about half that, Shepeluk said. The upgrades would not increase the plant’s capacity.

Sludge left over after the wastewater treatment is now sprayed onto a field the village owns near the plant, said Alec Tuscany, public works director. Under the new system, the sludge will be sprayed onto drying beds and then shipped to a landfill because of the chemical treatment.

The new setup will remove phosphorus and upgrade the plant to a “tertiary” level of treatment. Early sewer plants gave only one round of treatment to wastewater; eventually, more processes were added to provide secondary treatment, and current standards call for tertiary treatment. That will make the water coming out of the Waterbury plant safer, but won’t make it drinkable, Tuscany said.

“We’re not making drinking water,” he said.

Neither Shepeluk or Tuscany said they would personally drink it.

“You don’t want to drink this water,” Tuscany said.

These days, much of the phosphorus pollution in Lake Champlain comes from what the state calls “non-point” sources, such as runoff from farms and storm water that can’t be traced to a specific point.

The majority of town sewer systems have already been upgraded, Joslin said.

State and municipal officials are still working through the various permits before putting the project out to bid.

“On the schedule, I’m not prepared to say when we’ll be able to build this,” Joslin said.

Whatever the case, everyone seems to agree the process has gone on too long.

“All I know is this something we’ve got to deal with,” Minter said.